Footwear with interchangeable design strip

ABSTRACT

The invention included footwear such as a shoe with at least one interior interface surface on the shoe interior, at least one exterior interface surface on the shoe exterior and a removable design strip attached to the interior interface surface and the exterior surface to provide a looped design strip. The invention also includes a kit with a shoe and a removable design strip attachable to the shoe.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to footwear. More particularly, the present invention relates to footwear adapted to receive interchangeable design elements.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Footwear protects feet from rough and jagged surfaces and may also serve an ornamental purpose. Footwear may be made out of a variety of substance, including, for example, leather, canvas, rubber, alligator skin, plastics and other polymers, etc. Similar footwear can be offered with a variety of different designs. Currently, if similar footwear with differing designs are desired, multiple pieces of similar footwear are needed.

In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to facilitate the inclusion of multiple footwear designs in one piece of footwear.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a removable looped design strip and a removable linear design strip attached to the side of a shoe; in accordance . . .

FIG. 1A illustrates a number of different designs which may be used with a footwear;

FIG. 2 illustrates a removable looped design strip attached to the side of a footwear;

FIG. 3 illustrates a removable looped design strip and a removable linear design strip attached to the side of footwear;

FIG. 4 illustrates where a removable looped design strip is attached to the side of a boot;

FIG. 5 illustrates the removable looped design strip of FIG. 4 attached to the boot of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 illustrates a shoe with a removable looped design strip attached to the rear of the shoe; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a shoe with a removable design element attached to the rear of the shoe and removable design element attached to the side of the shoe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a side view of a boot 100 which includes looped design element 106 attached to an interior interface surface 102 of boot 100 and an exterior interface surface 104 of boot 100. Looped design strip 106 and removable linear design strip 110 are attached to the side of boot 100. Looped design strip 106 is attached to shoe 100 with fasteners, studs etc. Similarly, linear design strip 110 is attached to the exterior interface surface of shoe 100 with fasteners 108 and 112. As will be apparent to those of skill in the art, temporary bonding agents including, but not limited to, Velcro may also be used to attach design strips 106 and 110 to boot 100. In this embodiment, removable linear design strip 110 forms a discontinuous line with removable looped design strip 106 on the side of boot 100.

Removable design strips 106 and 110 may come in any number of configurations. For example, removable design strips 106 and 110 may be the same color or a different color than boot 100. In addition, removable design strips 106 and 110 may be provided in a number of designs including, but not limited to, fringe design 106A, weave design 106B, bead design 106C and rhinestone design 106D, as illustrated in FIG. 1A. In some embodiments, removable design strips 106 and 110 are the same. In other embodiments, removable design strips are different.

FIG. 2 is a side view of boot 200 which includes removable looped design strip 206 attached to the side of shoe 200. Design strip 206 is attached to the interior interface surface of shoe 200 at attachment point 202 and the exterior interface surface of shoe 200 with fasteners 204 and 208. Temporary bonding agents may also be used to attach removable design strip 206 to shoe 200. The design strip 206 of FIG. 2 can, if desired be interchanged with any design including, but not limited to, a design illustrated in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 3 is a side view of boot 300 which includes removable looped design strip 304 and removable linear design strip 310 attached to the side of shoe 300. Removable looped design strip 304 is attached to the interior interface surface of shoe 300 at connection point 302 and the exterior interface structure of shoe 300 with fastener 306.

Removable linear design strip 310 is attached with fasteners 308 and 312 to the exterior interface surface of shoe 300. In this embodiment, removable linear design strip 310 forms a discontinuous line with removable looped design strip 304. Also, in this embodiment, the designs of looped design strip 304 and linear design strip 310 are different. As will be apparent to those of skill in the art, temporary bonding agents may also be used to attach removable design strips 304 and 310 to shoe 300.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the upper portion of boot 400 which illustrates how removable looped design strip 406 is connected to the upper portion of boot 400 with fasteners. Removable looped design strip 406 is attached at positions 408 and 410 to fasteners, e.g., studs 402 and 404, respectively, of the upper portion of the boot 400.

FIG. 5 is a side view of boot 400 with removable looped design strip 406 attached to the side of boot 400. Removable looped design strip 406 is attached to boot 400 with fasteners 402 and 404.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of shoe 600, which includes removable looped design strip 604 attached to the rear of shoe 600. Removable looped design strip 604 is attached to the interior interface surface of shoe 600 at point 602 and the exterior interface structure of shoe 600 at 606 with fasteners. As will be apparent to those of skill in the art, temporary bonding agents may also be used to attach removable looped design strips 604 to shoe 600.

FIG. 7 is a side view of shoe 700 which includes removable looped design strip 702 attached to the rear of shoe 700 and linear design strip 706 attached to the side of shoe 700. Linear design strip 706 is attached with fasteners 704 and 708 to the side of shoe 700. In this embodiment, design strip 706 is approximately perpendicular to design strip 702. Further, the designs of design strip 702 and design strip 706 are different. As will be apparent to those of skill in the art, temporary bonding agents may also be used to attach removable design strips 702 and 706 to shoe 700.

The apparatus of the invention may be sold as a footwear (e.g., a shoe, boot, sandal, clog) with interface(s) to receive removable design strip(s). Removable design strips may then be sold separately. Alternately, the apparatus of the invention may be sold as a shoe kit including at least one shoe and at least one removable design strip attachable to the shoe.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the specific embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation, material, composition of matter, method, process step or steps, to the objective, spirit and scope of the present invention. All such modifications are intended to be within the scope of the claims appended hereto. 

1. An apparatus, comprising: a footwear; at least one interior interface surface on the footwear interior; at least one exterior interface surface on the footwear exterior; and a removable design element attached to the interior interface surface and the exterior surface to provide a looped design element.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a removable design element attached solely to the exterior interface surface.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the looped design element and the design element are attached to a side of the footwear.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the design element and looped design element form a discontinuous line.
 5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the looped design element is attached to the rear of the footwear.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the design element is attached to the side of the footwear.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the design element is substantially perpendicular to the looped design.
 8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the design of the looped design element is different than the design element.
 9. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the design of the looped design element and linear design element are complimentary.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the design element is attached with at least one fastener.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the design element is attached with a temporary bonding agent.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the temporary bonding agent is Velcro.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the design element is selected from a rhinestone design, a bead design, a weave design, a fringe design, a lace design and a blank design.
 14. A kit, comprising: a footwear; and a removable design element attachable to the footwear.
 15. The kit of claim 14, comprising at least two removable design elements.
 16. A kit, comprising: a set of removable design elements adapted for temporary attachment to footwear. 